Discovering Louisiana Book

$39.95

DISCOVERING LOUISIANA

As the stunning color photographs in Discovering Louisiana reveal, the state is much more than the swamps, marshes with which it is most often associated. Lockwood captures splendid views – both panoramic and intimate – of the jagged bluffs of the Tunica Hills in West Feliciana Parish; of cascading waterfalls and winding creeks in the Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana; and of unobstructed autumnal vistas from the summit of Bates Mountain, near Shreveport.

Lockwood travels along many of the state’s scenic rivers and lakes, photographing the mist-shrouded Bogue Chitto River at dawn; the steep, sandy banks of Saline Bayou, which is bordered by towering hardwood trees; and the vast, blue expanse of Lake Pontchartrain, the state’s largest lake.

He returns to his beloved Atchafalaya, the swamp area that is home to a teeming abundance of wildlife that includes raccoons, nutria, alligators, snakes, turtles, egrets, herons, owls, and eagles. He travels to the state’s prairies, bogs, and cheniers, which, though small in size, nonetheless are very important for the state’s wildlife community. Finally, he visits the coast, where he photographs an amazing array of birds on the barrier islands.

Lockwood augments his breathtaking photographs with an engaging first-person narrative account of his adventures. He describes the idyllic pleasures of a hundred-mile, five-day canoe trip down Bogue Chitto and West Pearl rivers, the anticipation of climbing the state’s highest peak, Driskill Mountain, and the dangers of trying to navigate five-foot swells in Terrebonne Bay in a fourteen foot bateau. Throughout the book, Lockwood skillfully conveys the magic that he finds in all of Louisiana and simultaneously expresses concern for the state’s fragile ecosystem.